Vincenzo Episode 2 Surges to 9.295% as the Mafia Lawyer Takes on Even More Lawless South Korean Rich and Powerful

View Comments

• Hahaha... it seems none of the new dramas have completely won Koala over yet? Have you tried Beyond Evil or Times?

  Anyways, with this one being 20 episodes, I'm very curious to see how high the ratings will go. Will it surpass Mr. Queen? I'll return with my thoughts after watching.

  • So some of the criticisms for this episode are totally valid. But I still find the drama entertaining as heck. With the other new dramas (except Sisyphus, hehe!), I kept checking how much longer till the end. But with this one, time flew by and I was never bored all the way to the end. I even found the comic bits funny. Guess my taste aligns with the K-viewers. Ha.

    My biggest gripe is still the female lead and her offputting acting. But I'll focus hard on SJK's magnetism, the blossoming bromance (hope it lasts) and other good parts to overlook her.

• I really liked the characters.

  The FL is kinda crazy but she's pretty funny. The tenants are pretty excentric too. Taecyeon doesn't look as a rookie but it wasn't surprising.

  I'm curious about Jang Joon-Woo, which side she will take.

  Yoo Jae Mung is only normal character.

• I must confess, I had pizza and salty peanuts before watching EP2, and lo and behold, I was dozing off in the middle of the episode. Either there was too much MSG in what I ate that made me sleepy, or I, unfortunately was bored by EP2. I plan to rewatch EP2 probably after getting my caffeine-fix lol. I still think there are too many characters, it kinda feels like one of those weekend ensemble dramas that run for 50 episodes. But happy for SJK's comeback project and that the audience seem to like it.

• Good grief, I couldn’t finish this episode. I can’t stand any of the tenants. I would evict them all if I could haha I sincerely want that Italian wannabe to fail and face foreclosure on his restaurant. It’s an embarrassment. I know it’s suppose to be a comedy but the mother beating up her son seems borderline domestic abuse to me.

  It doesn’t make sense how babel can own the complex because it was a violently forced sale.

  Taecyeon casting news already spoiled the upcoming twist of the drama when it was first mentioned he would play the villain and they tried to backtrack it ?

  The FL was double the level of obnoxious in this episode. The actress poor acting doesn’t help. It looks like there will be a romance between the leads after all, ughh

  Right now, I don’t understand the point of making the ML being adopted and raised in Italy or any foreign country if they’re not going to spend more time on it. He could had been an orphan and adopted in Korea and it wouldn’t make any major differences.

  I fast-forward the heck out of this episode haha

  If I hear it gets better, maybe I’ll give it another shot but I’m jumping off for now. I’m so sad. I rather rewatch Innocent man. Song Joong Ki deserves a better project, he’s carrying this drama on his back with his winning performance.

  • agree w laura on the part about him being adopted in italy.. maybe too early to tell too, hopefully they will explain it later..

    Ep 1 excites me but ep 2 i got bored halfway.: if i can finish the king, iotnbo and record of youth, im pretty sure i can hang on to vincenzo till the end..

  • Dang, what did the pseudo-Italiano do to you, Laura? Hahahaha. I wanna rip off his fake moustache, actually. Either he's just a caricature or there's some sad backstory about how he always looked up to Italian chefs but couldn't afford to study there and so he put on this gimmick to give him an exotic flair — which isn't even working. His food tastes like crap and his restaurant is always empty. Maybe time for a career change?

    About the abuse, they always normalize it in dramas I've watched like it's just as much a part of the culture as kimchi, hanoks and hanboks. Violence at home, school, work, everywhere. This isn't the worst I've seen in a drama though. Doesn't make it okay.

    The guy that pisses me off the most has to be that security agency guy and his xenophobia. Acting like Vincenzo is there to create a mafia in his pure, crime-free country when there are local gangsters and criminals to get off the streets. Have you seen Bad Guys 2? Yeesh.

    Unfortunately, there's no real proof that it was violently forced. They didn't leave any trace to tie back to them and it'd just be his word against theirs like he's trying to renege out of guilt.

    Unfortunately, we can't kick her out of the drama.

    I think his Italian background is an extreme way to “other“ him in this setting. Certain things might not work as well without that background. We got to see a bit of his human/emotional side in this episode. I'm patient. I'm sure they'll delve into that part eventually. More urgent stuff are currently centre stage.

    If you're just not feeling it, that's totally fine. See ya on the next drama we can analyze together. ?

    • Haha I’m just not comfortable with a character who embraces another country identity and not do it properly. He’s wearing a different nation on himself but with exaggerated generalizations. Like just move to Italy, you imposter haha Read up and watch documentary videos on your beloved country ?I’m not sure what’s up with the writer and generalizations, like he also had a Thai character in fiery priest. I like the backstory you gave to him, it can help give some pathos haha

      I agree, domestic violence tends to be normalized in certain asian dramas, I personally always wince when I see such scene due from personal experiences and also hearing stories during my volunteer work in the past with underaged youths.

      Ikr, all of these Italian stereotypes and thinking patterns are abrasive, ugh.

      FF button is our only friend to muzzle her haha

      You’re probably right, maybe they will dig in later in his backstory in Italy. I think that will help give the story a stronger heart. Right now that’s what is lacking, consistent heartbeats to ground the zaniness of the characters and the story. In fiery priest, the heartfelt interactions from the ML with his fellow priest was beautiful and then when he left the earth :( If episode 1 of Vincenzo started with interactions between him and his foster dad and his foster family, I think it could had been meaningful and then overtime having him talk with foster dad on his deathbed. I feel like episode 1 should had mostly taken place in Italy and then it ends with a cliffhanger of him migrating to Korea, I would had prefer that haha me and my story-telling lol

      See ya, I’ll still read your comments on this drama :)

    • From what I learned, there are other ways for judges to come to a conclusion if a certain individual was forced to sign something against their will including considering the relations of the parties involved, financial circumstances, intent, and etc. A decent lawyer should still be able to present a good case from my understanding but this is a drama so whatevers ?

    • Ya know, they do that a lot. Look at that guy in BR. I don't know why they think it's okay to keep doing that. And always for humor. A nationality is not a costume, people. I bet they wouldn't like it if it was the other way round. Sigh.

      Yeah, I agree. In Fiery Priest, they showed us the “heart” early on with his traumatic past of bombing kids (albeit unintentionally), how it haunts him and makes him seek redemption. Then his relationship with the elder priest that led him to that redemption. So when the priest got killed, we knew what Hae-il had lost and fully rallied behind him. They should have done that here too. Right now his Italian background feels like a superficial decoration. I fully agree with your points. Maybe they should've hired you to help them write the story? Lol.

    • In just about every K-drama I've seen, especially the legal dramas, the law can be bent to the will of the more powerful person. So I'm not surprised.

    • IKR, people are okay with roasting others but when it’s aimed at them, they be mad like a hungry lion losing his prey due to another lion. Human behavior can be silly haha

      Speaking of BR, ugh. I love my girl but I knew it wasn’t going to be appropriate knowing the original source. I was hoping she would turn it down when I first heard it. There was numerous of problems but ‘We are all Jamaican family’ omg that scene was horrid. And to this day, I still see people defending it. You can be a fan of an actor or actress but it doesn’t mean you should allow critical thinking and common sense to check out the door haha

      That’s right, we currently don’t know much of his back story so it’s kind of difficult to connect and sympathize with his character. I root for his awesomeness but do I empathize with his character, not yet.

      LOL

      You’re right, in dramas and also in real life the law does favor those who holds the purse.

  • Taec is the villain??!! Woah what a spoiler!
    I’m wondering why he took on the role since it’s quite plain but if it’s meant for more I supposed it make sense. But Taec pulling off double agent acting chops?! Taec you have been rooting for you again, fighting haha

• I see the some elements of writer's past works, Fiery Priest and Chief Kim, the two dramas which I enjoyed so much. There is just something a bit off with the direction and transitions of scenes, and the running time of the drama is very long which made me fast-forward scenes that I think unnecessary [mostly the scenes with tenants]. Unlike FP and CK, I can't stand most of the supporting characters in this drama [for now]. The scene with mother hitting her son is also disturbing for me.

  I'm still boarding next week for SJK's performance and his character Vincenzo to get what he aims for, Kwak Dongyeon's character, and the mysterious baddie whom I think will be revealed to be Taecyeon.

• I thought something was wrong with me since I didn't click with the first few minutes of the show. Then the female lead showed up and I decided to maybe just read the recaps for now.

  Totally surprised by the ratings.

  Maybe not my cup of tea.

  I'm watching Beyond Evil and I'm hooked with the story.

• Episode 2 was such a mess, I watched it with my cast forward button and still dropped it by mid-episode. I agree that Song Joong Ki’s character is hard carrying the drama with his strong acting and charisma along with Yoo Jae Myung who is the only sane tenant in that building. Everyone else’s acting is so bad that it really must be the fault of the directing. I have no earthly clue why this drama is a hit, but different strokes for different folks, I say. Everyone’s taste is different.

  • *fast-forward button*

• Jeon Yeo Bin looks good and is very compatible with Song Joong Ki. She just needs to tone down her antics by a lot and, in my opinion, perhaps stop "imitating" Jeon Ji Hyun's mannerism in "You who Came from the Stars". She is too jarring here.

• Finally, something I can watch from Song Joong Ki. I'm just waiting for having some fun here, and the plot is remind me abit of Harvest Villa plot, with what some of searching for GOLD in a resident? one of my fav Drama!... Of course Harvest Villa has more weirdo character. Hopefully they will tone down abit about useless scene with side character.

  i'm sorry But I thankfull Song Joong Ki come back again from dramaland. and It doesn't have to be arthdal 2.

• Jeon Yeo Bin's acting is horrendous. Crinchy and awkward. Unable to continue watching because of her. She totally doesn't have the skills to be female lead. Song Joong Ki's acting is fine. They shouldn't get Jeon Yeo Bin to be lead. Maybe Seo Ye-Ji is a much better choice.

  • I was curious how bad it could be and watched some of her clips on Twitter. Goodness, it was beyond awful and cringey to the max. Glad I didn’t plan on watching this, it would be so frustrating watching her act. Makes you really appreciate those actresses that can make an obnoxious character cute and likeable.